The Love Charm

Chapter two: Where Did She Come From?

"Ginny! I have to tell you the most exciting news!" Hermione dragged Ginny off of a comfy chair by the fire and up to the girls' dormitories. It was their first night at Hogwarts, and already Hermione had heard interesting news. Once in her room, which was empty at the moment since Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil were downstairs catching up, she began retelling what she overheard, "Well, I was on my way down to the kitchen to say hello to the house elves when I saw Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall speaking. I stopped to see what they were whispering-oh Ginny! Don't give me that face! You would have spied on them too!" Hermione stopped when Ginny raised an eyebrow upon hearing Hermione Granger spied on two professors, one being the headmaster.

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry! Go on!" Ginny urged.

"Fine," Hermione didn't need to be told twice to talk, "Professor McGonagall was asking the headmaster about a new girl. She came today. Her name is Alexis Gandoll, and she is supposed to be in your year! She got sorted into Gryffindor, but not with the year ones. Have you met her, because I haven't seen her all day?"

"No, I didn't, I haven't been to my room yet, so I'm not sure if she'll me my roommate. Why are you so happy about this?" Ginny was a little disappointed with Hermione's exciting news.

"The reason it's so exciting is that they haven't let anyone do this before. If you don't make it to year one, you don't get to come to Hogwarts." Hermione recited what the headmaster had said.

"Wait. Why did Professor Dumbledore let her come anyways?" Ginny still didn't see what all the fuss was about.

"Ginny! Don't you get it? Now we can have a little investigation of our own and find out what's so special about this Alexis Gandoll that our headmaster would break the rules just to let her come to Hogwarts. Are you with me?" Hermione asked. She and Ginny had decided before that this year they would find adventures together, and show the boys they didn't always need saving. They also wanted to keep the friendship that had built up over the summer. Hermione thought it was nice to be able to have a girl friend, other than hanging out with boys all the time. Ginny had to admit that after being around her brothers it was nice to have someone like a sister to talk to.

"Of course I'm with you! This is going to be so cool! Let's talk to her tomorrow night! If not sooner, but we have to talk to her together." Ginny was happy to have an adventure so early in the year. It was the first day, and already they had something to look forward to.

"Okay, Gins. Just make sure you come and tell me if you're in her room, and don't ask her any questions until we can ask together. I'm going to go to sleep now, you should too if you want to be well rested for your first day," Hermione really was bossy sometimes, but she never meant to, and Harry, Ron and Ginny were so used to it they did what she said without asking why.

"Okay. Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow. 'Night Hermione," Ginny replied. Hermione said goodnight to her, and she went up to her room. When she shut the door behind her it was oddly silent. Though she had the feeling someone was in the room with her.

"Hello?" she asked the darkness. She took out her wand and lit it. She and someone else screamed.

"Who are you?" a frightened voice asked, now coming from the other side of the room.

"I'm Ginny, Ginny Weasley. Who are you?" Ginny asked though she knew perfectly well that this short girl, with short, curly blonde hair and piercingly sharp, blue eyes was Alexis Gandoll.

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"Harry, have you seen Hermione?" Ron asked after ending a discussion about, as always, Quidditch, with Seamus and Dean.

"No, I think she already went to her dorm. Ask Lavender or Parvati." Harry was helping Neville look for his somehow missing trunk. He had it earlier, and although Harry thought a couple of red headed twins were behind the stunt, he offered to help anyway.

"She's in our dorm," Lavender said from the couch by the fire.

"Yeah, I saw her go up with Ginny a little while ago," Parvati added. Then she went on about her trip to America that summer, and how American boys were so cute, even if they were all muggles.

"Oh man!" Ron disappointedly shook his head. "I really needed to talk to her! Now what am I going to do?"

Harry gave Ron a questioning look, and Ron said, "I needed to borrow a book she has."

"What?" Harry was shocked, "You're going to read a book?"

"Yeah, I need to look up something," Ron answered simply.

"Why on earth do you need to look something up?" Harry was still having trouble get past the part about Ron doing research.

"It's about Quidditch, Harry!" Ron was beginning to get short tempered. He was tired, needed to know who Eldon Trencher was and not very happy about the new rule added to the long list of many others. The fifth years were to tutor a fourth year about the dark arts, and Ron didn't want another extra thing to do. He wanted to focus on getting his school work done this year. 'Whoa! Where did that come from! I think I should spend a little less time around Hermione!' Ron thought.

"Oh. Are you still trying to figure out who Eldon Trencher is? Ron, he's not important! He's probably really old or even dead by now, and besides what's with you and trying to know every person who's ever played Quidditch?" Harry chuckled at Ron's determination.

"Harry, it's just something I want to know! You and Hermione know everything and I'm always confused," Ron stated. By the you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me look Harry was giving him he said, "Okay, so maybe neither of us knows what Hermione's talking about, but that's not the point."

At that exact moment came a voice so sweet Harry couldn't help but to follow where it was coming from. Ron was right behind him, walking apathetically. It was leading up the stairs of the girls' dormitories, and for some reason they got up them without the stairs turning into slides. They followed the hallway to the room where they heard the voice, and opened the door, though no one else in Gryffindor tower heard the melodic tune.

Once in the room the song immediately ceased. Harry looked around. Hermione was there and so were Ginny, and some girl he didn't know was beaming at Ron and him.

"Hello boys," the girl said, a look of triumph spreading across her face. "We've been waiting for you."

"What are you talking about?" Ron rubbed his head trying to remember what happened the last few minutes. Harry frowned and looked at Hermione, who looked at Ginny. She smiled weakly.

"Umm...the power of speech?" Ginny offered. She looked at the other girl pleadingly and mouthed 'help'.

"I can explain." She smirked. "My name is Alexis Gandoll. I'm Ginny's roommate. Hermione, Ginny and I were discussing my special talent. You know, the reason Professor Dumbledore let me come to Hogwarts without any other magical schooling."

"And that 'special talent' is..." Harry asked.

"She can control people by singing songs with spells on them." Hermione was too impatient to wait for Alexis to talk in her slow, soothingly annoying tone.

"That's why we got up here without being pulled back down?" Harry said starting to remember.

"Yeah, I like it up here. It's a lot nicer than our rooms," Ron complimented, or rather envied.

"Yes, it is nice, isn't it?" Alexis smiled seductively Harry and twirled a curl around her finger. He raised his eyebrows.

"Okay...so what is this all about?" His raised eyebrows turned into a suspicious frown.

"Well, we need to talk," Alexis sat on her bed and smoothed her skirt. "I understand that, you," she pointed at Harry, "are the Amazing Boy Who Lived. Am I correct?" Harry nodded, ignoring her insult, "And these goons are your, hmm...sidekicks, shall we put it?" Hermione gave her a look, that Alexis fully ignored, and stood up.

Hermione spoke quickly, "Well, now that we have introductions settled, we should really get some sleep, now." She emphasized the last word hoping Ginny would catch on.

She did. "Oh, yes, definitely! I'm super duper tired!" she faked a yawn, "You two boys better go back downstairs now." She looked at Harry and winked.

Harry nodded slightly, though he didn't quite understand why Ginny and Hermione wanted them to leave. He nudged Ron and said, "I guess we can talk tomorrow. We better go to sleep now, too. 'Night Hermione, 'night Ginny. It was nice to meet you, Alexis. I hope I see you soon."

"Goodnight guys, see you tomorrow," Hermione replied, Ginny waved, as Harry, Ron and Hermione left the room and shut the door.

Great! Now I'm stuck with her! Ginny looked at Alexis and sighed.

"Is something the matter, Ginny?" Alexis put an arm around Ginny.

Ginny pushed it off and pasted a false smile on her face, "No, everything is fine. I'm just tired. I'm gonna go to sleep now. 'Night." She quickly changed into her pajamas and slid into her cozy bed. She rolled over and fell asleep instantly. She was a tad more tired than she originally thought.

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The next morning Hermione awoke bright and early, but she thought something was wrong. This new girl was more dangerous than the little adventure she and Ginny had hoped for. They thought it would be a 'her parents were muggles and didn't want to send her to a school for witches' story, but no, it had to be an 'I was hidden for years, ignored by my parents, and developed a dangerous power' story. How were they going to deal with this? Alexis Gandoll was more powerful than almost everyone else at Hogwarts; she was also the most dangerous. She could control people, maybe even hurt people, just by singing a song! Hermione was not ready for something like this. She was so busy dreading what horrible things were going to happen that she lost the excited first day of school feeling she always got.

Hermione dressed quietly, so as not to wake Lavender and Parvati, who were up late whispering about American boys. She went down to the common room, which was still deserted. That's strange, she thought, People are usually up earlier than this. They must've all stayed up late. She silently chided her fellow students. Then thought it would be nice to check on Ginny, and make sure her friend was up and ready for a healthy breakfast.

She really did feel like an older sister to Ginny. She always wanted her to be happy, and do well. If she was sad, Hermione was sad too. She was the best friend Hermione ever had, other than Harry and Ron, of course. She would never be able to choose one over the other, and was happy to admit they wouldn't ever make her.

She knocked twice on Ginny's door, and it was opened almost immediately by Ginny, who shushed Hermione and looked back over her shoulder. The younger girl sighed with relief and stepped out into the hallway, shutting the door as quietly as possible behind her.

"I'm trying not to wake her highness up," Ginny explained disgustedly. "She is the most horrid person I have ever met! She made me get up at two in the morning to fetch an extra blanket for her because she felt a draft. I am going to kill myself if I have to be her roommate all by myself!"

Hermione looked sympathetic. "There isn't anyone else in your dorm? I can't believe it! What else did she do? Anything else?"

"Other than sleeping with a light on, no." Ginny made an awful face.

Hermione patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry," she said, "I'm sure she'll get better, and maybe we can find out a little more about her at breakfast."

"She better get used to doing things herself and sleeping in the dark or I just might strangle her!" Ginny giggled and so did Hermione.

"We could go down for breakfast early if you want," Hermione said after they came down to the still deserted common room.

"Sure. Do they serve breakfast this early?" Ginny and Hermione headed down to the Great Hall.

"Yeah, I think we just have a lazy house." Hermione opened the door, and held it open for Ginny to get in. "See," she said, pointing at the few other students eating breakfast, "lazy house."

Ginny and Hermione weren't the only Gryffindors, but there was only two other people, and it happened to be Fred and George. The girls walked over and sat at the table. Hermione looked at the twins and they stopped talking.

"Good morning ladies," Fred greeted.

"It's a very fine day isn't it?" George agreed.

"Why are you guys even awake at this hour?" Ginny asked her brothers, knowing them all to well that they wouldn't ever get up this early unless they were up to something.

"We wanted to greet the day!" Fred exclaimed.

"Sure you did. Now, what are you two up to?" Hermione narrowed her eyes.

"Oh, come on, we don't always have to have done something, do we? Fred and I wanted to discuss our classes and get the good food before everyone else eats it all," George smiled sweetly and batted his honey brown eyes.

"George, you're lying. I know when you're lying because, unfortunately as we have the Weasley curse, your ears turn pink. They also turn pink when you're embarrassed, mad or blushing. You can't deny it, so just admit that you are up to something," Ginny was amazingly good at coaxing her brothers to tell her things because she was a Weasley, the youngest Weasley at that, and their only sister.

"Okay, we're up to something, but we don't have to tell what it is!" Fred complied.

"Now will you leave us alone?" George asked.

"What we're doing is a surprise, and no one can know, so please don't make us tell you," Fred added.

"You will find out," George started.

"Eventually," Fred finished.

They looked at each other. "When everyone else does," they said at the same time, then got up and left. Ginny and Hermione looked at each other but they let the two mischievous boys leave. Other Gryffindors were now arriving, Harry and Ron being two of them.

"Hey guys! Over here!" Hermione waved to her other two, tired looking, best friends.

"Good morning Ron. Good morning Harry. Did you boys stay up late last night?" Ginny chided. She and Hermione smiled, knowing very well that Harry and Ron stayed up for a long while after they had gone to sleep. They sat across from Ginny and Hermione.

Ron grabbed a few muffins and shoved a bite in his mouth. "Gosh! I'm starving!" he said with his mouth full.

"Ronald Weasley, that is disgusting!" Hermione was very well mannered and always corrected Ron when he had mad table manners, which he would forget again tomorrow and Hermione would just have to repeat her speech. So, this time she decided she wasn't going to do it any longer. She looked away and shut her mouth.

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"Do you mind if I sit here?" Alexis had just strolled in and plopped herself down next to Ginny before the poor girl had time to answer.

"Why not. Would you like me to get you some muffins as well?" Ginny said sarcastically.

"Oh, would you? You are so nice, Ginny!" Alexis handed her plate to Ginny. Ginny grabbed a bunch of muffins, way too many for one person to eat, and placed the plate in front of Alexis again. Alexis picked one up and scarfed it down, then moved on to the next.

Ginny didn't know why, but it felt like Alexis had somehow challenged her. So she filled her plate with muffins and started stuffing her face, too. Alexis stopped for a second, smiled as if to say 'bring it on' and started eating the muffins twice as fast as before.

Ginny not only lost the muffin eating contest, but was stuck with a stomachache. She said goodbye to Hermione, Ron and Harry, and rushed off to her first class that day, which happened to be her least favorite, potions.

"And the day keeps getting worse!" Ginny mumbled. She turned around a corner in the corridor and someone smacked into her. All her books and papers went flying everywhere.

"Watch it!" Pansy Parkinson sneered and walked away.

Ginny sighed and bent down to pick up her things.

"Do you want some help?" Dean Thomas asked as he walked by to get to his class. He bent down and joined her in gathering up her papers.

"Thanks." Ginny smiled after she had all her stuff in order. "I hope you don't get in trouble for being late."

"Don't worry about it! It's no problem. You better hurry though; Professor Snape doesn't take tardiness lightly." Ginny nodded and Dean hurried off in the opposite direction.

Ginny practically ran to her potions class, but she was just wasting her breath. Whether she was five minutes late of two she would get points taken away. She got down to the dungeons and hurried in the classroom.

"Miss Weasley, how nice of you to finally join us," Snape said in a dangerous voice.

"I'm sorry Professor, I dropped my things on the way down here and I-" Ginny tried to explain.

"That's enough, Miss Weasley. I don't want to here any excuses. You are late and that will leave me no choice but to take ten points from Gryffindor." Snape smiled evilly. Ginny sat down next to Rella Toil, a Ravenclaw girl.

Other than that everything went well enough. Ginny had no more trouble and pleased with herself having earned fifteen points in her transfiguration class.

After classes Ginny walked up to the common room, and up to her dorm to drop off her books. On her way there, though, she heard a sweet song beginning, it was calling her, and it was coming from her room.

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Harry, Ron and Hermione were doing their homework in the common room when they saw Ginny come in. She looked like she was about to come over to them, and Hermione waved, but suddenly she turned the other way and went up the stairs to the girls' dorms.

"That's strange." Hermione frowned. "I know she saw me wave, but she didn't come here."

"Maybe she went to get something," Harry suggested.

"Or she's just really mad and doesn't want to talk to you." Ron shrugged.

"I better go see." Hermione looked worried, and she hurried up the stairs.

"Hermione, I was just kidding!" Ron yelled after her.

"Good job," Harry joked, and went back to his charmed homework.

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Hermione went up the stairs to Ginny's room, and saw her walking spacey, like a zombie, as she went in her room. Hermione hurried to the door, and just then it clicked as it was locked.

"Ginny! Are you mad at me? What did I do? You can tell me what's wrong!" Hermione desperately tried to open the door. She heard whispering, but it wasn't Ginny's voice. Hermione listened hard. She couldn't hear anything except a sing-song voice whispering something fast. Hermione ran back downstairs to get Ron and Harry.